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The General Overview for Cool Mist Humidification for Data Centers

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Cool mist humidification, otherwise known as adiabatic humidification, is a process that does not require the use of a heating element to heat up water inside the humidifier. Humidification can occur by use of a fan or small metal diaphragm that vibrates at a certain frequency. These two separate processes can be broken into evaporative and ultrasonic humidification.

Evaporative Humidifiers

These types of humidifiers uses a fan to blow dry room temperature air through an evaporative wick filter. Unlike the isothermal process (warm mist), this process does not use any heating element. Therefore, it requires very little electricity to run. However, maintenance of the humidifier is required and replacing the filters is needed to keep the system working at it’s best.

Ultrasonic Humidifiers

Another form of cool mist humidification, ultrasonic humidifiers uses a small meta diaphragm to vibrate water at a frequency that breaks it from tiny water droplets into fine vapor mist. These systems are the most quiet, and uses the least amount of electricity. These systems may also disperse minerals that take a form of “white dust”. Although not harmful, these minerals may damage the systems and it’s surrounding environment. However, the use of distilled water is recommended to ensure no particles are to be found in the mist.

 

To learn about what type of water to use for these systems, check out our article explaining it at “The Quick and Easy Basics of Ultrasonic Humidification and RO/DI Water.”

 

Why This is Beneficial for Data Centers? 

Data center humidification maintenance requires the use of systems that will keep the environment clean, free of dust, and running with minimals risks of damage. The water vapor contained in the cool mist ensures that the IT equipment is free from damaging effects such as static electric discharge, white dust formation, and overheating.

Humidity control in data centers is extremely crucial for the maintenance of the equipment and servers. Air containing too much or too little water vapor will directly impact the machine productivity and downtime. However, using a humidification system that can accurately control the room’s relative humidity (RH) can keep the electronic lasting longer and free of damage.

cool mist humidification data center

Advantages of Data Center Humidification

1. Health: The use of RO/DI water in ultrasonic humidification will get rid of all particles in the water to protect from white dust formation. As opposed to steam systems, cool mist humidification does not emit any particles (as long as the water is pure and/or distilled).

cool mist humidification white dust

 

2. Energy Cost: Save thousands of dollars in annual operating costs with cool mist humidification. In addition, the ultrasonic system powers on and off almost instantly, as opposed to the preheat process that steam humidifiers go through.

cool mist humidification save money on energy

3. Maintenance: Due to water being purified before use with ultrasonic humidifiers, there is considerably less maintenance for the system, thus reducing cost and time spent looking over the machine.

cool mist humidification maintenance

4. RH Accuracy: As soon as the data center reaches the set RH, the humidification system will instantly turn off. However, once the air strays from the set point, the humidifier will instantly turn back on.

Minimize Factors EXTERNAL to the environment. 

Protect the IT environment by minimizing infiltration from chronic humidity control problems from outside weather changes. This is done by using vapor barriers in the construction or renovation of data centers with special non-porous sheets that are applied to the walls, ceilings and floor of the room. This surrounds the entire IT environment and greatly reduces the chance of humidity loss or gain from outside of the room.

With fewer people working in data centers than most spaces, the quantity of outside air used for ventilation is normally much smaller and should be planned for by a cooling professional during the design and build of the room. The benefit is that the air coming from outdoors is already processed by the general building climate control before it even enters the computer room, ensuring that all air and humidity is controlled to accommodate the server rooms.

Minimize Factors INTERNAL to the environment. 

Humidifiers that are installed in almost all data centers have one role: to protect the room and data systems from any damages/effects that can be caused by unbalanced RH. However, not all risks and damages can be 100% avoided. Continual maintenance of the system and server room is required to protect against electrostatic discharge, which if left unattended, can severely damage the equipment. To minimize damages, here are a few quick steps to incorporate into your maintenance procedure of the server room.

1. Keep doors closed at all times. Long exposures to outside air will drastically affect the room’s RH, and continual actions will increase the chance of damages to the internal environment where the humidification system is located at.

2. Use electrostatic-free mats on the ground of the data center. This will ensure that electrostatic discharge in the server room does not reach a highly damaging level that can also destroy the equipment inside the data center.

3. Establish and maintain a regular cleaning schedule. There needs to be a regular cleaning schedule for the equipments inside the server room. Once the schedule is established, it is time to follow it through. Regularly cleaning the equipment and systems will assure that the equipment will last longer.

 

To learn more tips on how to minimize internal factors, read about them at our “7 Tips to Control Threats of Data Center Contamination“.

 

Four Data Center Dangers that Cool Mist Humidification Protects Against

Data Center Dangers That Cool Mist Humidification Protects Against

Conclusion

Cool mist humidification is extremely important for data centers and server rooms. Although there are data centers that may use isothermal humidification, the biggest benefit between that and cool mist is the energy required. As the server room gets larger, so does the energy required to keep the entire area at a healthy RH. Ultrasonic humidification requires only 10% of the total energy that the steam process takes, so when it comes to cost-savings, ultrasonic takes the cake.

If your data center and/or server room requires the use of humidification to maintain a constant RH, please reach out to us at info@ultrapuresystems.com or submit a contact form so we can answer your questions. At UltraPure Systems, our systems provide the best solution to save time on installation, electricity used, and system maintenance. Let us know your situation and we can help find the best system to fit your needs.

4 Clear Ways to Prevent Static Discharge and Dust In Data Centers

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Static discharge and dust formation in data centers can be extremely disastrous. This could lead to increase in temperature that could lead to overheating and flammability, corruption of data, system locks up, and permanent damage to the entire floor. Most data center owners will agree that a little dust every now and then is not “terrible”, but this really only applies to smaller to midsize enterprises AND if there is a prevention plan for more dust and static discharge to form.

Both static discharge and formation of dust in data centers may initially pose little to no threats, but if no prevention steps are placed, the dangers can increase tenfold.

There are multiple ways for ensuring that both static discharge and dust formation have little chance of appearing in a data center. These methods involve the correct flooring for the room, the avoidance of bringing outside materials into the data center, scheduled cleaning maintenances, and the use of humidification to not let the room get too dry.

 

How To Choose the Best Flooring

The floor of the data center should not contribute to static electricity in any way. Although there are computer-grade flooring, this may not adhere to one of the basic objectives in a 3-item checklist:

  1. The floor must not contribute static generation.
  2. It must be ground able after installed.
  3. The static resistant properties should be permanent regardless of temperature, humidity, maintenance, or traffic.

The better type of flooring that should be used is a static dissipative carpet. Although some believe this may be less effective than carbon loaded hard surface floors, these carpet tiles contain thousands of grounded static dissipative fibers that sweep off static from shoes. These special carbon fibers that are woven through the surface of the carpet helps dissipates the excess static build up, and removes any form of static as people walk through the data center.

Keep Non Data Center Materials Out!

It is highly recommended that construction of new servers and equipment should be assembled outside of the data center and only brought in when it is ready to be set up. This means that no cardboard, plastic, wood, or any other materials should ever enter the data center as a prevention step. Some data centers have built a dedicated area outside the data center where new equipment is removed from boxes/crates and assembled before coming in. This also extends to all foods and drinks!

static discharge keep non data center materials out
Keep any non related data center materials out.

Schedule Regular Cleaning Maintenances

Maintaining scheduled cleaning is the third important step in prevention of static discharge and dust formation. Having a cleaning service that specializes in cleaning data centers come at least twice a year is a great start, with additional visits if needed for the data center. If the cleaning takes great care of the equipment during the job, servers and other equipments will not generate dirt and dust, and influence effects of static discharge. If renting out a cleaning service is not within budget, monthly wipe downs with a damp rag and dust cleaning with a vacuum may suffice (depending on data center policy and building size).

static discharge cleaning often
Cleaning often can help eliminate any unwanted dust formation and static discharge.

Use Humidification for Cooling and Humidity Control

Adding moisture to the air in the data center will decrease static electricity from forming on the floor and equipment. The relative humidity, or RH, should sit around 50%, which is the sweet spot to eliminate static. This also helps the equipment in the room breathe better with the cooling effects of ultrasonic or vaporizing humidification to ensure that the machines are not overheating. Some data centers will use steam (or evaporative) humidification with their data centers, which is fine. However, the benefit in using cooling (or ultrasonic/vaporization) humidification is that it does not further overheat the servers and equipment (warm air blown into working systems), and use more electricity to run it.

 

For a complete guide to the differences between warm mist and cool mist humidification systems, check out our guide here: The Complete Guide to Warm Mist and Cool Mist Humidification Systems.

 

To learn more about if ultrasonic humidification is for your data center, be sure to reach out to our team at UltraPure Systems today. The ultrasonic humidifiers are perfect for enterprises, of any size, determine what is the best solution for when it comes to humidification and cooling for applications such as data centers, labs, hospitals, and humidors.

7 Tips to Control Threats of Data Center Contamination

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Data center contamination is an ever-present threat to the equipment and servers typically found in a large and enclosed room. The potential effects from contamination may range from impaired power efficiency to destruction of the equipment due to failure. However, like all facets of life, threats can be subdued in some shape or form. This article will discuss the different types of procedures to undergo to ensure that your data center is kept clean and free of contamination threats.

Contamination that affects data centers can come in two forms – Particulate Matter (PM) and Gaseous. If PM blocks equipment cooling fans and heatsinks, the cooling system will have to work even harder to maintain the operating temperature limits. This increases the power demand of the data center by 2% or more, as well as potentially shortening the equipment’s lifetime. Some examples of common contaminates are ferrous metal particles, white dust, zin whiskers, and chlorides/salts (especially locations in the coastal regions).

Procedures to Control Threats of Data Center Contamination

1. Keep Doors Closed at All Times

The data center is a closed environment. This means that the door to other rooms, especially to the outside, should remain closed when not in use. This will lessen the risks of bacteria/outside contaminates from slipping in.

2. Use Contamination Control Mats at All Entrances

The use of contamination control mats go a long way here. However, antistatic mats that dissipate the static electricity that builds on shoes and clothing is highly recommended here. Prevention of any external electricity will see to the longevity of the data center equipments.

 

ultrasonic humidification contamination control mats
Take caution and consider contamination control mats as a solution to data center contamination

 

 3. No Food or Drinks Inside

This is self-explanatory. Leave your food and drinks outside!

4. Do Not Unpack Items Inside the Data Centers

Establish a staging area outside the data center for unpacking and assembling of equipment before going in. The internal environment of the data center should be maintained the same each and every time. Unboxing and assembling of equipment may risk outside pollutants to hit the current equipment.

5. Do Not Store Paper, Cardboard, or Similar Supplies Inside Data Centers

In addition to shedding contaminants, paper, cardboard, and other similar items represent collection points for airborne contaminants. The data centers should ONLY have the necessary equipment — anything further may run the risk to collect any sorts of contaminants.

6. Maintain Controlled Temperature and Humidity Level

The climate inside a data center should always be maintained at a set temperature and humidity level. Failure to regulate temperature will cause the equipment to overheat, and without the correct levels of humidity, chances of electrostatic discharge is increased.

 

ultrasonic humidification maintain controlled temperature
Temperature control can go a long way when it comes to protecting your equipments from overheating.

 

7. Establish and Maintain a Regular Cleaning and Filter Replacement Schedule

To ensure that the data center is well-kept and regulated for contaminants, there needs to be regular data center cleaning for equipments, including servers, trays, cabinets, water filtration systems, humidification cooling systems, and more. Once a clean up schedule is established, it is critical that it is followed. Most data centers who suffer from contaminant infections occur because the cleaning schedule is not followed.

Conclusion

Contaminants come in many shapes and sizes, and may occur from something as simple as letting the room get too dry. Once the contaminants enter the data center environment, they are drawn into and moved about through the air handling units. Even the water that is used to cool the room can be at fault for bringing in the contaminants. We suggest that ultra pure water (water that has gone through the reverse osmosis process) is the best type of water to use to drastically decrease the risk of contaminants coming in.

For more information on UltraPure water and how it can help reduce the contaminants in your data center, please read our page on how UltraPure Water is a necessity for Data Centers, or contact us for more information on how to prevent data center contamination.

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